Facebook, 3-D Guns, Apple: Your Wednesday Briefing

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Cody Wilson with a plastic gun that was made on a 3-D printer. His efforts to publish blueprints online for similar weapons were blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday.CreditCreditJay Janner/Austin American-Statesman, via Associated Press

Facebook uncovers plot to disrupt elections

The company did not definitively link the campaign to Russia but said some of its tools and techniques were similar to those used by the Kremlin-linked group accused of interfering in the 2016 election.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he would make Facebook’s disclosure a central part of a previously scheduled hearing today, when lawmakers plan to press outside experts about foreign influence on social media networks.

• Last week, Facebook announced it would spend more on moderation and security, sending tech stocks down sharply. But don’t let that fool you, our tech columnist writes: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are still on their way to dominating the future.

Judge blocks plastic weapons

Critics say the firearms, or “ghost guns,” can be made without serial numbers or government registration and would allow criminals and terrorists to evade detection.

• The man, Cody Wilson of Texas, has said his goal is to protect both the First and the Second Amendments. “The argument that I’m making, although not always very well, is that what I’m doing is actually a pretty mainline American idea.” Read our profile of Mr. Wilson, whom Wired magazine called one of the world’s “most dangerous people” in 2012.

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Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Fight Over 3-D-Printed Guns

Critics say that publishing blueprints for 3-D-printed weapons is a threat to public safety. Supporters say it’s a First Amendment right.

The trial, over charges that Mr. Manafort hid tens of millions of dollars he received for his political work in Ukraine and then engaged in bank fraud when those funds dried up, is expected to last about three weeks.

The professor versus Xi Jinping

• A law professor in Beijing has delivered the fiercest criticism yet of China’s leader from a Chinese academic. It comes as a vaccine scandal and trade battles with Washington have emboldened questioning of Mr. Xi’s sweeping control and hard-line policies.

In an essay posted online, Professor Xu Zhangrun urged lawmakers to reverse the vote in March that abolished presidential term limits. He also called on the government to overturn its condemnation of the pro-democracy, anticorruption demonstrations that erupted in China in 1989 and ended after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

• Professor Xu is listed as being a visiting scholar in Japan, and he may face censure in Beijing.

• It tracks the efforts of a small group of American scientists, activists and politicians, and explains how thoroughly they grasped the problem and how agonizingly close they came to solving it. If you’d like more climate news, sign up for our email newsletter.

Business

• The billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors, has criticized President Trump’s trade policies. On Tuesday, the president fought back.

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Charles G. Koch, one of the Republicans’ biggest donors, has been critical of President Trump’s protectionist trade policies. Mr. Trump is hitting back, creating tensions that could affect the party in the midterm elections.CreditCreditBo Rader/The Wichita Eagle, via Associated Press

An experiment involving 34 dogs of various breeds tested whether they would push through a door to “save” their owners. The results were … mixed. Watch our video for more.

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An experiment involving 34 dogs of various breeds tested whether they would push through a magnetically sealed door to “save” their owners.CreditCreditRic Damm

• Best of late-night TV

A public school largely funded by LeBron James opened this week in Ohio. Trevor Noah wished the average public school had the same resources: “Although this is a really beautiful story of philanthropy, it does raise the question of why communities need celebrities to provide services that should be provided by the government.”

• Quotation of the day

“The South Koreans have said the North Koreans have agreed to give up nuclear weapons. Trump has said they have agreed to give them up. But they have never said it.”

— Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control expert, on North Korea’s continuing work on missile and weapons programs.

Sheri Fink, a national correspondent, recommends an essay in Vox: “This piece by Amanda Oliver, a librarian, caught my attention because I know her. But her argument, against a call for Amazon to replace libraries, is compelling on its own. She portrays the surprising breadth of assistance that public libraries and librarians offer patrons: ‘In a world heavily skewed toward people who can pay for access to resources, we do what we can to provide equity.’ ”

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Jose Reyes, a backup infielder for the New York Mets, took a turn as a relief pitcher on Tuesday in a 25-4 loss to the Washington Nationals. It was the most lopsided loss for the Mets in the team’s 57-year history.CreditAlex Brandon/Associated Press

Back Story

The show was created by Merv Griffin, a TV innovator and former game show host, after the quiz show scandals of the 1950s, in which contestants on “Twenty-One” and “The $64,000 Question” were given the answers beforehand.

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Alex Trebek has hosted “Jeopardy!” for more than 30 years.CreditPaul Hawthorne/Associated Press

That led to a federal investigation, and quiz shows fell out of favor. But Mr. Griffin felt they still had potential.